Latvian flag carrier airBaltic is a fascinating airline. airBaltic has a massive fleet of Airbus A220-300s (the airline hopes to have 100 of these by 2030), with a large network to and from Northern Europe, in particular to Riga, Latvia (RIX), Tallinn, Estonia (TLL), and Vilnius, Lithuania (VNO).
The airline has just made an interesting request with the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), and I’m not sure what exactly to make of it (thanks to @IshrionA for flagging this).
airBaltic requests to operate United States flights
airBaltic has filed with the US DOT, requesting permission to operate flights to the United States with its own aircraft. Here’s the request:
In July 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration placed Latvia in Category 1 under its IASA safety program, which now enables AIR BALTIC and other carriers from Latvia to operate to the United States with their own aircraft. Given this development, AIR BALTIC requests that the Department amend its foreign air carrier permit to remove the codeshare only limitation and also grant it exemption authority to operate with its own aircraft the open skies authority set forth in its existing foreign air carrier permit.
As you can see, previously airBaltic’s permission to fly to the United States was limited to codeshare flights, whereby the airline could place its “code” on another airline flying between the countries. Now the airline wants permission to operate these flights with its own aircraft.
The filing doesn’t go into further detail on exactly which routes the airline wants to operate, or which aircraft it will use. Keep in mind Latvia is part of the Open Skies agreement, meaning that the airline can freely add routes between any participating countries, assuming it has the above permission.
How could airBaltic fly to the United States?
airBaltic’s fleet consists exclusively of Airbus A220s. While those planes are incredibly incredibly capable, they don’t have the range to fly nonstop from Latvia to the United States. With that in mind, a few thoughts:
- If airBaltic were to launch flights to the United States with its own existing aircraft, a stop would be required along the way, in somewhere like Iceland
- airBaltic is a very well run and disciplined airline, so this isn’t some government-owned vanity project that will light money on fire for prestige
- The timing here is interesting, because in late 2023, airBaltic and Delta launched a partnership, though it has limited implications as of now, since Delta doesn’t fly to any of airBaltic’s hubs
- Is it possible that airBaltic plans on picking up one or two wide body aircraft in order to fly to the United States? I have to assume that’s not the case, because the airline is disciplined, and I can’t imagine that would make money on a year-round basis
- In November 2023, airBaltic’s CEO was quoted as saying “there will be no direct flights to the US yet,” and that “it has to be an economically logical step”
I’m honestly not sure what exactly to make of this. Seeking regulatory approval for something doesn’t necessarily mean an airline has immediate plans to do something. At the same time, airlines don’t typically seek regulatory approval for something that’s not realistic under current conditions.
So for now we’ll mark this as “developing.” I will say that I find it unlikely that airBaltic would launch transatlantic flights with its current fleet, but I could be wrong.
Bottom line
airBaltic has filed with the US Department of Transportation, requesting permission to fly to the United States with its own aircraft. The catch is that airBaltic only has A220s, and those can’t fly nonstop from Northern Europe to the United States.
I’m curious to see what unfolds here, because this has to be one of the more unusual requests we’ve seen from a legitimate airline…
What do you think airBaltic’s plans are for the United States?
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